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"THE LORD SAID, WRITE THE VISION, 
AND MAKE IT PLAIN." 




The United States a Chosen Nation 



WITH A 



Dissertation on Economics 



BY 



REV. T. M. C. BIRMINGHAM 



Copyrighted, 1903, by D. W. Pettegrew. 



PRICE, TEN CENTS 



J 



CINCINNATI 
PRESS OF JENNING? AND PYR ^. 



THELIBRAHYOF 1 
CONGRESS, \ 


Two Copies Receiver 1 

AUG 29,1903 

Cwpytignt Entry 

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COPY B. 




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INTRODUCTION. 

Despise not prophesy ings. — Paul. 

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. — John. 

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth the 
secret unto his servants the prophets.— Amos. 

This pamphlet presents the writer's vision of 
the United States as a chosen nation. It also states 
the prophecy of Christ declaring there would be such 
a nation under the New Testament, to evangelize 
the world and elevate the human race. Let the 
churches, schools, newspapers, and institutions of 
government in this land accept the mission and des- 
tiny of the United States, to which God is calling 
the American people, and this nation will continue 
to prosper. In addition there will be such showers 
of blessings coming down on us, and from here 
spreading worldwide over the whole habitable earth, 
as to surpass in glory both Tabor and Pentecost. 
Should this work assist in the consummation, and 
also lead the churches and of all denominations to 
greater faithfulness in proclaiming the whole coun- 
sel of God, and particularly in declaring what the 
Scriptures teach in reference to nations, the Author 
will be more than satisfied. 

Wellston, O. T., 
July 2, ipoj. 



CONTENTS. 



SERMON ON UNITED STATES. 
A CHOSEN NATION. 



Page 

I. Text and Introduction, .... ^ 

II. Proved by Experience, - . . . . 6 

III. Rewards and Punishments, - - - - 7 

IV. Wealth of Nations, ------ 8 

V. National Possibilities, ----- 9 

VI. Chosen Nations, 10 

VII. American Progress, n 

VIII. Fall of Nations, - - - - . - 12 

IX. Israel in Canaan, 13 

X. Isaiah the Prophet, ----- 14 

XL Daniel in Babylon, 16 

XII. Praying and Voting, 17 

XIII. Prophesying up to Date, - . . - 18 

XIV. Mission of United States, - - - - 19 
XV. Prophesy of Christ, 20 

XVI. A World Power, - - - - - 21 

XVII. American Destiny, 22 

XVIII. Duty of the Pulpit, 23 

XIX. Glory of Christ, ------ 24 

XX. Future of the Nation, 25 



Contents. 



11. DISSERTATION ON ECONOMICS. 



Page 

I. The Proposition, 27 

II. Wages a Test, --.... 27 

III. Idolatrous Lands, ------ 28 

IV. Mohammedanism, - 29 

V. Eastern Churches, 30 

VI. Christian Nations, 30 

VII. Purchasing Power, 31 

VIII. Density of Population, . . . . 32 

IX. Soil and Climate, ^3 

X. Cause of Prosperity, - . . . . 34 

XL Principle Universal, 35 

XII. Mormonism, 36 

XIII. Political Economy, -37 

XIV. Gospel for Nations, 38 

XV. Healing of the Nations, ----- 40 

XVI. Kingdom Coming, 41 

XVII. Government of Cities, 42 

XVIII. Spiritual or Machine Religion, - . - 43 

XIX. Failure of Israel, 45 

XX. American Opportunity, .... 46 



THE UNITED STATES A CHOSEN 
NATION. 



I. SERMON ON UNITED STATES A 
CHOSEN NATION. 

Reported as preached on October 8, 1902, before the Ministerial Institute 
in Perry, Oklahoma. 

I. Text and Introduction. 

Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any 
people. — Proverbs xiv, 34. 

This text was first penned by a man who had a 
lifelong experience in government. He was wise 
above most rulers with the anointing of the Holy 
Ghost upon his pen, and the theme here presented 
is surely one of great importance. If to do good to 
an individual is worth our study, and still more to 
benefit a family, how much greater the service to 
bring prosperity to the million homes of a whole 
nation ? Manifestly that is the doctrine of this text. 
It undertakes to state for us the way the industry of 
a people may thrive; how the commerce of a whole 
nation may flourish, and the very land teem with 
the wealth of the harvest. What not only does this 
for a people at home, but also gives them prestige, 
standing, and influence abroad. All that, and much 
more, is included in the idea of a nation being lifted 
up and exalted. Solomon here, in this text, asserts 
the very reasonable doctrine that righteousness is 
the foundation of national welfare; the mainspring 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

of a people's happiness and prosperity, and the cause 
of causes that lifts them up, and sets them on high 
in the scale of progress and the onward march of 
civilization. The Lord Jesus Christ came down from 
heaven to produce this righteousness in all men and 
in the government of all nations. Does it not follow 
that, if his grace is adequate for the work, the gospel 
is the most patriotic thing in existence, and ought to 
be accepted by all men, everywhere, and not only for 
the benefits it brings to the soul, but also for the wel- 
fare of the land and prosperity of the nation? 

II. Proved by Experience. 

The doctrine of this text is abundantly sus- 
tained, and by the best of all evidence, the testimony 
of experience. It is proved by the present con- 
dition of every nation on the face of the whole earth. 
Surely that ought to be sufficient to establish the 
fact. Indeed, there has never been a nation in all 
the annals of time that did not verify what Solomon 
has here penned. I suppose, too, that I may ad- 
vance one step farther, and declare that, for all the 
ages of time that are yet unrolled and to come, the 
experience of nations will also establish the truth of 
this principle. Look to-day over the world, and 
see where the hungry are best fed, wages are high- 
est, and there is the greatest degree of general pros- 
perity among the people, and you will find it to be 
in almost exact proportion as the gospel of Christ is 
preached and observed. Look again, and see where 
the sick are healed, days are multiplied, years are 
lengthened, and there is the greatest average dura- 
tion of human life, and you will find it to be in pro- 
portion as the gospel of Christ is preached and ob- 
served. Look a third time, and see where the mind 
receives most light, schools thrive, colleges flourish, 

6 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

universities are founded, and the printing-press 
makes knowledge accessible to everybody, and you 
will also find it to be in proportion as the gospel of 
Christ is preached and observed. These are the 
greater works, in feeding the hungry, healing the 
sick, and opening the eyes of the blind, the Lord 
Jesus Christ told his disciples would follow their 
labors after he ascended on high and sent upon them 
the Holy Ghost, and would continue down to the end 
of time in elevating the people of whole nations, 
through righteousness. 

III. Rewards and Punishments. 

God holds all persons and all nations respon- 
sible for their acts, but there is a difference in the 
way it is administered. Occasionally, even to-day, 
you may see a just man serving God far down in the 
vale of poverty as, of old, Lazarus. You may still 
at times see a wicked man, and the wheel of fortune 
has him on top until he goes through this world in 
wealth, in affluence, and in splendor as, of old. Dives. 
Are we, therefore, to infer that there is no justice 
with heaven in dealing with men for their conduct 
while here on earth? By no means. But if we 
would learn of the justice God exercises upon indi- 
viduals, we must not confine our observation to the 
threescore and ten years they may spend here in the 
body. Follow Lazarus within the vale, and see him 
ascending on high, and there receiving an ample 
recompense for all he endured here in the trial of 
his faith. Follow Dives within the vale, and see 
that man, who possessed such an abundance here, 
now bereft of all things and without even as much 
as water to satisfy his thirst. God does not promise 
to here always reward a righteous person in their 
outward circumstances ; or here always to punish 

7 



Thi5 United States a Chosen Nation. 

transgressors. He declares that in each individual 
there is a soul, and after death the judgment. In 
view of what good people sometimes here sufifer 
and evil persons often here obtain, nothing is more 
just and nothing more reasonable than a judgment 
after death. Then does God promise surely and cer- 
tainly to rectify everything that has here gone amiss 
with the individual — amply rewarding the righteous 
and punishing transgressors. 

IV. Wealth of Nations. 

Nations are under a different rule. They are 
responsible to God for their acts, but without a soul. 
The existence of a nation is limited to time con- 
fined to this earth, and never, like a soul, survives 
into the future. Hence the justice of God is pledged 
to here always reward a righteous nation, or here 
punish it for transgressions. The present condition 
of the people in all lands proves the principle. Mul- 
hall's Balance Sheet of the World makes it exceed- 
ingly clear in economics. Who there has the wealth 
of the world but the Christian nations ? Who there 
controls the commerce of the whole world but the 
Christian nations? Who there leads in the manu- 
facturing industries of the whole world but the 
Christian nations? The lands where the gospel is 
preached do not contain more than one-tenth part of 
the inhabitants of the world; but they have more 
wealth, more power, and more influence than all the 
other nine-tenths combined. That one-tenth where 
the gospel is preached to-day sways the world's 
scepter and wields the rod of empire and dominion 
over mankind, world-wide, throughout the whole 
habitable earth. The preaching of the gospel, and 
the true men and noble women who enshrine its truth 
in their hearts and exemplify its teachings in their 

8 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

lives, are beyond question the salt that is saving the 
Christian nation. It is the leaven in the meal work- 
ing in them for righteousness that brings intelli- 
gence, prosperity, and supremacy in its train. How 
much higher, then, might even the best of them as- 
cend were all their inhabitants composed of moral, 
upright people, who were possessed of the grace of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, that would make of them wor- 
shipers of God in sincerity and truth, and lead them 
also to render justice to their fellow-man? ' 

V. National Possibilities. 

Many signs point to the United States as a 
chosen nation set apart and ordained of God for 
an example to the modern world of the progress 
possible under the gospel. It was a desire for 
the spread of the gospel that prompted both 
Columbus and Isabella in discovering America. 
The two great controlling influences in the settle- 
ment of this nation were liberty and the spread of 
the gospel. Our Supreme Court, after an elaborate 
historical review of the discovery, settlement, and 
founding of the United States, has in one of its 
judgments declared that ''This is a Christian na- 
tion."* Suppose, then, the gospel with its grace was 
accepted as the rule of life by all officers of the 
United States; by the governors and members of 
the legislature in every State of this Union ; by the 
mayors and aldermen of every city in the land ; by 
all the school teachers, editors, army, navy, and the 
great body of the American people. Were I to state 
the heights in progress and civilization to which 
righteousness can exalt a nation where it is observed 

=-See United States Supreme Court Reports, 147, in the case of Church 
of the Holy Trinity vs. United States. The judgment was prepared by 
Justice Brewer, and all the Judges concurred in the decision. 



The: United State;s a Chosen Nation. 

by a majority of the people and their pubhc authori- 
ties, my tongue would have to be dipped in all the 
bright and brilliant hues of the rainbow to describe 
the scene. Even then I could not do full justice to 
the subject. But if I may not paint that scene in all 
its beauty, and describe the splendor and prosperity 
that would then appear in the land, thanks be to 
God that I can point out the way and direct you 
all in the path that will best promote the welfare 
of this or any nation. Every one who will, hunger 
and thirst after righteousness, and steadfastly be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, shall through the 
atonement he has made for the sins of the whole 
world, receive the grace that not only brings life 
and immortality to the soul, but also promotes lib- 
erty, prosperity, and civilization among the people 
of any and all nations. 

VI. Chosen Nations. 

Religion is, and ever will remain, an important 
element in human affairs. Like the star of Bethle- 
hem, it shines on the cradle of infancy, guides the 
activities of mature life, and finally becomes the 
staff on which old age leans for support. In some 
form it exists among all people, but has only caused 
the origin of two nations. One was the common- 
wealth of Israel, and the other the free republic 
of the United States. You may search into the 
history of Greece, Rome, France, Germany, or any 
other nation, and you will find, while they all had 
religions, it did not cause their national existence. 
But it was the gospel brought Israel out of bondage 
in Egypt, made of it a nation, and did the same for 
the American people here in the United States. 
Oppressions in government and what always attends 
it, and, in fact, at the root is the cause — an unfaith- 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

fill priesthood in the Church — were to the colonists 
who founded this nation like the whips of the task- 
masters of Egypt. Puritans in New England, Bap- 
tists in Rhode Island, Presbyterians in the Jerseys, 
Quakers in Pennsylvania, Catholics in Maryland, 
Huguenots in the Carolinas, and Moravians in 
Georgia, had all practically the same experience in 
becoming colonists. When the pen of history re- 
cords "they emigrated for conscience' sake," it is 
only in other words saying they acted on gospel 
principles in resisting what was wrong in church 
and state, and contending for truth, right, and 
justice among men. With the bright angel of hope 
to go before and lead them, and the black demon of 
despair standing behind to drive them out, they 
crossed the ocean, like the Israelites did the Red 
Sea, founded commonwealths on the other side, and, 
with their faith, sacrifice, and privations, dedicated 
this nation to freedom, the worship of God, and 
the elevation of man. 

VII. American Progress. 

On the authority of this text, and many others 
to be found in the Scriptures teaching the same 
doctrine, I claim the gospel of Christ is here on 
earth, not only to save souls, but also through 
righteousness to exalt to liberty, prosperity, and 
civilization the people of whole nations. The two 
most eminent examples of the benefits of this 
principle are, under the Old Testament, the 
commonwealth of Israel, and under the New 
Testament, the free and prosperous republic of 
the United States. There is, in many respects, a 
striking similarity in these two nations. Counting 
the Levites separate, there were thirteen tribes in 
Israel, the same as there were thirteen colonies in 

II 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

founding the United States. Both commenced their 
national hfe in a wilderness, and with a population 
in each almost identical in numbers of about three 
millions. From that small beginning under the more 
free and wide development of the New Testament, 
this nation has advanced by leaps and bounds until, 
in one century, it reached the leadership of the 
world. The American people have felled the forest, 
cleared the land, built the roads, bridged the streams, 
constructed irrigation works, dotted the plains with 
cities, and from ocean to ocean, have conquered the 
wilderness with a speed never before attained. Their 
fame also for inventions and labor-saving contriv- 
ances has justly spread to all lands. Even now the 
grain fields of the world are being cut by the Amer- 
ican reaper; the freight of the world is now being 
hauled by the American locomotive ; the news of the 
whole world is now being carried on the American 
telegraph ; and the garments of the whole world are 
now being made on the American sewing-machine. 
These things that America has produced are only 
beginnings of the greater and grander things the 
people of this nation are destined to accomplish. 
Let the grace and righteousness of the gospel only 
be more generally received and observed, and there 
will be greater prosperity in the land, more won- 
derful inventions produced, and a still higher civili- 
zation developed in these United States. 

VIII. Fall of Nations. 

Having to some extent presented the affirmative 
of this text, perhaps it is not amiss to turn it over 
and now state the negative of the proposition. It 
is a text that readily divides in two parts, so that 
the old way in preaching, of firstly, secondly, and 

12 



The; United States a Chosen Nation. 

thirdly, would not in this instance be suitable. The 
first part states the cause of national welfare, and 
the latter points out the source of national ruin and 
destruction. Nations do not, like individuals, decay 
and die from age, but corruption. Sin is always 
at the root the cause. Sin is more penetrating than 
any acid, and more destructive than any dynamite. 
Sin is able, not only to produce death in the souls 
of men, but also to blast, blight, wither, impoverish, 
and destroy nations. So potent for evil is sin that 
historians tell us, nations never leave anything but 
ruins. Broken walls, shattered arches and columns, 
with the remains of temples and palaces that have 
not one stone on top of another, are all, they say, 
that now exists of some of the mightiest empires 
of antiquity. In all the past, sin has prevailed to 
such an extent that no nation has ever existed for 
a thousand years. Amid this well-nigh universal 
destruction, let it be well understood that there is 
in Christ a sure and certain remedy for sin that 
gives life to the soul, causes cities to endure and 
nations to prosper. More than fortifications, it is 
the moral character of the people that causes cities 
to flourish and become centers of trade, commerce, 
and civilization. More than soil, climate, and the 
natural resources of the land, it is the deliverance 
from sin this text suggests, and that Christ makes 
possible for ''any people," that brings wealth and 
prosperity to nations. 

IX. Israel in Canaan. 

Lest there should be any doubt about the peril 
from sin to nations, let me briefly describe what 
did occur, and under most favorable conditions. 
God once took the people of a whole nation and gave 



13 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

them a land flowing with milk and honey. He 
then told them to worship God, use the gospel 
means of grace that would make them strong for 
truth and right, and not turn aside from his com- 
mandments for judge, king, priest, or even an angel 
from heaven, and Canaan and prosperity was theirs 
forever. The great object of the devil in all ages 
is to turn people away from truth and the word of 
God. To do that, opens the floodgates of sin and 
iniquity and leads to sure and certain destruction. 
With a very transparent deception the devil led 
Adam and Eve to transgress until they lost Eden. 
In the same way, and with one of the simplest tricks 
imaginable, he caused the Israelites to lose Canaan. 
He got them divided up into sects, and then their 
priesthood became so absorbed in preaching on 
minor differences that they failed to assert the 
supremacy of God over the nation. Under the 
narrow preaching of Sect ! Sect ! ! Sect ! ! ! the He- 
brew nation perished. Some pulpits among us are, 
I fear, to-day repeating the same mistake. They 
go from year-end to year-end without a single ser- 
mon on the way a nation may avoid evil and its 
people become prosperous, although more than half 
of the Scriptures are given up to the subject. Surely 
there is a lesson in the fall of Israel in Canaan it 
would be well for the churches to understand, and 
proclaim the truth of the gospel in all its fullness, 
that a like fate may never come down on the United 
States. 

X. Isaiah, the Prophet. 

When the priesthood in Israel became so narrow, 
sectarian, and unfaithful that they would not preach 
the governmental ideas of the gospel in a final efifort 
for the preservation of that nation, God raised up 

14 



The; United States a Chosen Nation. 

prophets. Isaiah was one of their greatest. In 
explaining to the Israehtes that the Scriptures are 
a guide in government, and that nations were re- 
sponsible to God for their acts and the good they 
may and ought to accomplish, he used this com- 
parison : A man had a vineyard in a very fruitful 
hill, and he fenced it, gathered out the stones, planted 
it with the choicest vines, built a tower and wine- 
press in the midst ; but when he looked for fruit and 
some return for his labors, behold, the vineyard 
persisted in growing only wild and worthless grapes. 
Judge, O inhabitants of 'Jerusalem, between me and 
my vineyard! I intend to break down the wall, 
remove the hedge, neither have it pruned nor digged 
any more; but let it grow up in weeds and briers 
until it will be wasted and utterly consumed. Then 
when all could see the justice of the proposition 
that la..d, well-watered and cultivated, ought to yield 
some return for the labor expended, he would say, 
The vineyard of the Lord is the hosts of Israel, 
and his pleasant plants are the men of Judah. With 
a strong hand and a mighty arm he brought us out 
of the land of Egypt, settled us in a good country, 
where we might prosper and become an example of 
the benefits of the gospel. After giving us such 
a great opportunity for good to ourselves and the 
people of the surrounding countries, unless we fulfill 
that purpose, and walk worthy of our high calling, 
this nation will surely perish. Tlie Israelites failed 
to heed the warning, and even their rulers and 
priesthood seemed careless and indifferent about the 
purpose for which the nation was established. In 
consequence of the general unfaithfulness arnong 
priests, rulers, and people, after repeated warnings, 
the Israelites were banished from Canaan and scat- 
tered to the four winds of destruction. 



15 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

XI. Daniel in Babylon. 

No fact comes down to us more clearly from the 
past than that, through sin and transgression, na- 
tions, either Jew or Gentile, may and do fall. God 
wrote this lesson on the very walls of Babylon, but 
the blind priests and astrologers of Heathendom 
did not understand the doctrine. It was only when 
the prophet Daniel was called in that the writing 
on the palace wall was explained to the court of 
Belshazzar. The prophets were ministers who un- 
derstood that nations are responsible to God for 
their acts and the good they may and ought to 
accomplish, just the same as individuals. God again 
wrote the same lesson in letters of fire and blood 
on the walls of government over the question of 
slavery in these United States. There was the same 
consternation in Washington that occurred in Baby- 
lon, and inability of many of our statesmen to rec- 
ognize the hand of God in the crisis of events that 
followed in this land in the early 'sixties. It was 
only after the destroying angel with the sword 
had passed over the land, leaving a son a dead 
corpse in almost every household North and South, 
the same as of old in Egypt, that the American 
people began to get their eyes open to what is 
taught in this text, that God is just and nations, 
even the mightiest, must do what is right or else 
sufifer the pains and penalties for transgression. 
Now we are face to face with other great questions, 
and instead of repeating the mistakes of the past, 
would it not be best for the press, pulpit, patriotic 
citizens, and influential statesmen to open their eyes, 
read the signs of the times, and, recognizing that 
God is guiding us as a nation the same as of old 
when he moved before Israel with a cloud by day 
and pillar of fire by night, and all help to fulfill the 
mission of the United States? 

i6 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

XII. Praying and Voting. 

There was once a church — so the story runs — 
where they would meet together and talk about the 
coming of the kingdom of heaven among men, 
preach about the coming of the kingdom of heaven 
among men, and even at times went so far as to 
solemnly pray that the kingdom of heaven might 
come. There they stopped, and whenever it came 
to voting for the kingdom of heaven to come, the 
minister and congregation invariably weakened and 
"Petered" out. Now that was, to say the least of it, 
very inconsistent, to assert a principle in preaching, 
pray that it might prevail, and then at the polls fail 
to vote for its adoption. How much do you suppose 
it would hasten the millennium or anything else, 
suppose we all go to praying for it and working for 
the opposite? "it ought to be much better under- 
stood in the churches that the coming of the king- 
dom of heaven among men is and must, in the 
nature of things, be largely a coming of good gov- 
ernment founded on right principles that tend to 
promote the welfare and elevation of the human 
race. In that church, at one of their meetings, a 
spell and enchantment came down on the edifice 
until nothing spoken inside the four walls of the 
building, of the sermons of the minister, songs of 
the choir, or prayers of the leaders, could be heard, 
and it soon became the talk of the town that the 
church was dead. So many talking about it caused 
the minister and his deacons to get a move on 
themselves, and they searched the building on the 
inside, searched it on the outside, but still did not 
discover the cause of the deadness of the church. 
At last one of the trustees took down a plank from 
the ceiling, and lo ! to his surprise and astonishment, 
he saw stacked up in the loft all those prayers 
2 17 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

without the votes to correspond. The inconsistency 
of praying one way and voting in another direction 
had killed the church dead! dead!! (Applause.) 

XIII. Prophesying up to Date. 

The New Testament recognizes the call and work 
of a prophet the same as the Old Testament. Let 
me see if I am sufficiently anointed with the prophet- 
ical spirit to reveal the mission of this nation. In 
this land, where all vote, it is desirable that as many 
as possible should be of the day, and understand the 
destiny of the nation. The American citizen in the 
twentieth century has become a world-man, with 
the world's problems staring him in the face, and 
the Scriptures offer light for their solution. It was 
bad enough for Adam to become a failure to Eden, 
and still worse for the Israelites to prove unfaithful 
in Canaan ; but would it not be worst of all for the 
people of this nation to make a still greater blunder, 
and, through want of light in the pulpit, let go un- 
fulfilled the mission of the United States? Our 
peculiar origin, wonderful growth, and marvelous 
prosperity indicate the United States to be the 
modern chosen nation that God has ordained to 
evangelize the world, spread the gospel to all lands, 
and elevate the human race. He has given us ample 
facilities for the work, in here settling us in the best 
and most suitable continent in all the earth ; in here 
gathering from many lands, like Isaiah's "choicest 
vines," the most moral, progressive, and enterprising 
people in all the world ; and in here giving us in- 
ventions that one man harvesting may do the work 
of a dozen, one man in the factory with machinery 
may do the work of a score, and one man in trans- 
portation on a locomotive may do the work of a 
hundred. Then, when the fullness of time has come, 

i8 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

and we are well equipped for the service, God has 
opened to us the markets of the whole world, that, 
along with our commerce, may go out teacher, 
preacher, and publisher, to spread the glorious and 
everlasting gospel of Christ that offers life and im- 
mortality to all men, and liberty, prosperity, and 
civilization to the people of all nations. 

XIV. Mission of the United States. 

Beyond question the American people are called 
to act the most important part of any in all the drama 
of human history. That call to us from high heaven 
is farther confirmed by our fitness and opportunities 
to accomplish the work. The world now needs just 
such a nation as these United States may and ought, 
through Christ, to become. The effect of a great 
continental nation like we are now, with its people 
free and prosperous and favoring the spread of the 
gospel and liberty among the people of other lands, 
would quicken with hope the whole human race. 
It would be like a great light lifted up and shining 
on a candlestick, an object-lesson to all the world 
of the benefits of the gospel, the free school, the 
free press, the free ballot, and thereby the possible 
elevation of man in any and all nations up into free 
and prosperous commonwealths. Evidently such 
was the design of God in the commonwealth of 
Israel. It was there intended to have a whole 
itation, with all its people, cleansed from sin, wor- 
shiping God, exceedingly prosperous, advancing in 
civilization, and an example to surrounding coun- 
tries of the national benefits of the gospel. Now 
our day has come, bringing with it in the twentieth 
century to us in the United States greater and 
grander opportunities than anything Canaan ever 
witnessed. I am heaven-ordained with good news, 

19 



The: United Statics a Chosen Nation. 

glad tidings, a message from the throne, duly author- 
ized and commissioned to proclaim that, in fidelity 
to God, the American people may exceed the Israel- 
ites in prosperity, advance more rapidly in civiliza- 
tion, and exert an influence for good world-wide 
over the whole habitable earth. 

XV. Prophecy of Christ. 

The elevation of man and coming of the kingdom 
of heaven are identical. What ever promotes one 
does the other. The thing God desires above every- 
thing else on earth is the elevation of man and in all 
nations. The two essential elements in the con- 
summation are the gospel and rule of right in gov- 
ernment. When that kingdom of God which existed 
among the Israelites, and consisting of the gospel 
and rule of right in government, was taken away, 
it was expressly declared that it would be given 
to another nation bringing forth fruits in the eleva- 
tion of the human race.* This prophecy of Christ, 
made in Jerusalem just before his crucifixion, meant 
that God would raise up, under the New Testament, 
a chosen nation to evangelize the world and spread 
light and liberty and civilization over all the earth. 
The United States is better fitted for that work than 
any other nation that so far has ever existed. If we 
are not that nation, it has not yet appeared, and there 
does not seem to be any other continent out of which 
it could come for many centuries. In view of the 
fact that we now have the facilities, resources, and 
opportunities necessary to fulfill this prophecy of 
Christ, and that all our history and from the com- 
mencement, points in that direction, I think the 

* Matthew xxi,43: " Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God 
shall be taken from yoii (Israelites), and given to A NATION BRINGING 
FORTH THE FRUITS." 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

American people may very reasonably conclude, that 
the chosen nation, under the New Testament, that is 
to enlio;hten the world, spread the gospel to all 
lands, and elevate the human race, is the United 
States. 

XVI. A World Power. 

The same as of old in Israel, the hand of God, 
and in a pre-eminent degree for good, has been 
about this nation. Congress in solemn act has re- 
peatedly recognized it, both in the Revolution and 
Civil War. The favor of God in founding and es- 
tablishing the United States is expressly declared in 
the first inaugural of Washington. '■= It is also re- 
ferred to in the first inaugural of another illustrious 
President, William McKinley.f (Applause.) It 
was exhibited to us, and in a most remarkable 
manner, during the late war with Spain. The naval 
engagements at Manila and off Santiago — the two 
deciding battles — were to us as bloodless and to the 
whole world as wonderful as the falling down of 
the walls of Jericho at the sounding of a ram's horn. 
With such manifestations of the hand of God guid- 
ing us as a chosen nation to become a world-power 
and enter fields white for redemption's harvest, shall 
the United States falter and repeat the mistake of 
the Israelites at Kadesh? May God and the good 
sense of the American people prevent such a world- 

*"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible 
Hand which guides the affairs of men more than the people of the United 
States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an 
independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of 
providential agency." (First Inaugural of Washington.) 

t"I assume the arduous and responsible duties of President of the 
United States relying upon the support of my countrymen and invoking the 
guidance of Almighty (lod. Our faith teaches that there is no safer re- 
liance than upon the God of our fathers who has so singularly favored us in 
every national trial, and will not forsake us as long as we obey his com- 
mandmentsand walk humbly in his footsteps." (First Inaugural of William 
McKinley.) 

21 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

wide calamity! (Many amens.) Instead, and to 
avoid such a fate, let us move forward to fulfill the 
mission of the United States, and say in the language 
of inspiration. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us; 
for he hath appointed Americans to preach the good 
tidings; to bind up the broken-hearted; to give 
deliverance from ignorance and superstition to the 
people of other lands ; to declare the twentieth cen- 
tury as the acceptable time for the elevation of man 
in every nation ; and, with the gospel, the free school, 
the free press, and the free ballot, proclaim liberty 
throughout the whole world and unto all of its 
inhabitants. (Great applause.) 

XVII. American Destiny. 

In fulfilling the mission of the United States I 
see before the American people a future of surpass- 
ing glory and brightness. The vision rises up be- 
fore me of a nation with a soil that produces abun- 
dant crops ; with mines that are yielding large sup- 
plies of gas, oil, coal, iron, copper, silver, gold, and 
all the metals ; with ships that are going out to the 
four quarters of the globe, freighted with the prod- 
ucts of the farm, loom, factory, and foundry ; with 
a people who are walking in light, and becoming 
clothed with power to make discoveries, produce 
inventions, deepen rivers and harbors, construct vast 
systems of highways, canals, and waterways, and 
build great storage reservoirs to hold up the winter 
and spring rains, that in summer will make their 
deserts and arid regions blossom like the rose. Al- 
ready they are sending out Bibles, teachers, and 
missionaries, by the shipload. It does not require 
any gift of prophecy to perceive that after them 
will follow the American editor, the American den- 
tist, the American lumberman, the American rail- 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

road builder, and the American engineer and elec- 
trician. The whole world is calling for Americans 
to lead them out of the wilderness and into the 
modern promised land of liberty, prosperity, and 
civilization. Let us, in the grace of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, respond to the call, and even inside of the 
twentieth century we may Americanize the whole 
world, and lead the people of all nations up to 
liberty, free institutions, and to adopt the represent- 
ative form of government. 

XVin. Duty of the Pulpit. 

The supreme question of the hour now is. Will 
the United States fulfill this destiny to which God 
is so manifestly calling the nation? The Hebrew 
prophets recognized that the Israelites had a mis- 
sion in the world, and often urged them to walk 
worthy of their very high calling for the prosperity 
it would bring to Canaan; and also that their in- 
fluence for good might extend over the surrounding 
countries. In the same way ought not the pulpits 
in this land urge the people of every State in this 
Union to walk worthy of the higher calling and 
grander opportunity of American citizenship m the 
twentieth century, for the greater prosperity it will 
bring to the United States, and also that our influ- 
ence for good may extend world-wide over the 
whole habitable earth ? Should we prove unfaithful, 
betray our trust, and thereby fall like Tyre. Nineveh, 
and, even before our eyes, Spain has fallen ? From 
the guns of the American fleet at Manila and off 
Santiago God sent that nation a message proclaim- 
ing that he was done with Spain as a world power. 
Should we likewise be rejected, where then in all 
the earth would another nation be found readv to 
take our place, inventing, discovering, and pro- 

23 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

ducing a higher and better civilization? There 
is at present no tribe of Africa able for the work; 
or people of Asia ; or European ; or South American 
nation. Whenever conditions in the various coun- 
tries of the world are considered, it will easily appear 
that all hope for the advance of the human race 
must, and for many centuries, rest solely on these 
United States. Surely, if there ever was a time 
and place where, in faith, hope, and charity, all 
ought rejoice to do their best for the glory of 
God and elevation of man, it is in the twentieth 
century, and here in the United States. Long- 
fellow, with the vision of a true poet, and many 
years before the Spanish War, saw the far-reaching 
influence of this nation on the destinies of the 
world, when he penned the lines, 

** Sail on, O ship of state ; 
Sail on, O Union strong and great ! 
Humanity, with all its fears. 
With all the hopes of future years 
Hangs breathless on thy fate."^ j 

XIX. Glory of Christ. 

As goes America in the twentieth century, up 
or down, so will go the whole world. The citizens 
of this great Republic are now called on to rise up 
and decide the destinies of the whole human race. 
Large as may be the undertaking, the grace of the 
Lord Jesus Christ will enable them to accomplish 
the work for the good of the nation and also for 
the benefit of all mankind. Christ risen from the 
dead with power is able and willing to rnake every 
American citizen of the day, reading the signs of the 
times, and a worker together with God in the eleva- 
tion of the whole human race. O! the glory of 
Christ in offering life and immortality to all men! 
O! the unsearchable riches of Christ in offering 

24 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

liberty, prosperity, and civilization to the people of 
all nations! May I not hope that all present, in 
obedience to God, in patriotism to the nation, and 
also in philanthropy to the whole human race, will 
now seek and obtain the deliverance from sin this 
text urges and that Christ makes possible for "any 
people," and to that extent help fulfill the mission 
of the United States? Then when, through faith, 
we are washed in the blood that cleanseth from sin, 
and baptized with the spirit of Christ, it will clothe 
us as a people with the might and wisdom to carry 
the banner of progress, head the procession of the 
nations upward in their march to civilization, usher 
in the rule of right, and spread the kingdom of God 
among men throughout all the whole world, under 
the best symbol of liberty and free institutions that 
has ever appeared on earth, the American Flag. 
(Great applause.) 

XX. Future of the Nations. 

Finally, this nation is now in the lead of the 
world, and may forever endure. Although history 
is full of the wrecks of nations that have perished 
and the fragments of mighty empires that, in spite 
of the valor of their armies and the wisdom of their 
counselors, have been destroyed, I rejoice to pro- 
claim that, in fidelity to Christ and the work of 
Christ in elevating the human race, these United 
States may live, thrive, flourish, prosper, and, with 
its banner to the breeze, endure on down through 
the ages, until time ceases and fades into eternity. 
Glory to the Lamb of God that is able to take away 
the sins of the American people (many amens), 
and in righteousness forever exalt the United States ! 
(Applause.) Priests, prophets, philosophers, and 
many of the best of men and noblest of women, 

25 



The: United States a Chosen Nation, 

have long desired to see this age and such a nation 
as we may now, thr.ough Christ, become : strong, 
mighty, and powerful to spread the gospel liberty, 
and the civilization that follows, among the people 
of other lands, and become an example of their 
benefits to all the earth. It was not for them in 
any past age; but our eyes may now behold this 
glory, and see the greatest nation that has ever ex- 
isted, and with the grandest opportunity for good 
to themselves and the whole world that ever came 
to any people. In view of the many and signal 
mercies we have received in the past, the exceeding 
brightness of the future now before the American 
people at the opening of the twentieth century, will, 
not all present join me in conclusion with one of 
Paul's grand climaxes, in ascribing through Jesus 
Christ unto the one only eternal, immortal, and all- 
wise God, glory, honor, majesty, and dominion 
throughout all ages, and in all nations; but pre- 
eminently and in the very highest degree, may it 
forever prevail over these United States! Amen 
and amen. (Great applause and much enthusiasm 
in the congregation, ending in a Chautauqua salute.) 

"All hail the power of Jesus' name, 

Let angels prostrate fall; 
Bring forth the royal diadem 

And crown him Lord of all. 

*'Let every kindred, every tribe 

On this terrestrial ball, 
To him all majesty ascribe 

And crown him Lord of all." 



26 



II. DISSERTATION ON ECONOMICS. 

I. The Proposition. 

When Adam turned aside from the God-given 
principles of truth, and followed after the lies and 
falsehoods of the devil, his domain of blooming 
flowers and ripening fruits became barren and deso- 
late, and without labor produced only weeds and 
briers. Nations to-day have just the same experi- 
ence. In proportion as they accept lies in religion 
and allow themselves to be ruled by false principles 
in government is the measure of their poverty and 
degradation. The union between these two is so 
close and intimate that, where one exists the other 
invariably appears. Nations only prosper as they 
receive truth in religion, and have the faith, hope, 
and charity to apply its principles in government. 
Truth, so valuable to man that it brings immortality 
to the soul and prosperity to nations, can now be 
found, and for the whole human race, in the second 
Adam, Jesus Christ, and the word of God. In 
proof of the proposition let us compare the rates 
of wages current in different nations as, on the 
whole, the best and fairest test of economic con- 
ditions, and see what the logic of facts teach. 

II. Wages a Test. 

The comparison of wages, to be accurate, should 
take some one calling as nearly universal as possible ; 
for it is not probable that a wagonmaker would get 
the full worth of his labor in Venice; or a ship 
builder in Denver. Probably, on the whole, the 
rate for unskilled labor will best suit our purpose 

27 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

as more numerous and more nearly universal than 
any other occupation. The standard suggested is 
not an arbitrary one, but, when considered, will be 
found the main unit in determining the rate for 
all industrial calling. Whatever in any country is 
the hire of a laborer, multiply it by one and a half, 
and you have about the rate for the factory opera- 
tive; double it, and you have the pay of the miner 
or carpenter ; and treble it, and you have the wages 
of the highly-skilled machinist. This scale of mul- 
tiples scarcely requires any change for China, Aus- 
tria, or England, and is really everywhere the great 
factor in determining the income for all classes of 
the population. 

III. Idolatrous Lands. 

Therefore, with our standard of measure settled, 
let us now examine and note the rates of wages cur- 
rent in the different nations of the world. We will 
begin with Japan, where we find the wages of an 
able-bodied laborer to be about twelve (12) cents 
a day.* From there let us cross over to China, 
where we find it to be ten (10) cents a day. In 
India it is still lower, and ranges from seven (7) 
to nine (9) cents a day. Religions made up of 
lies and falsehoods, and what always follows, gov- 
ernments of injustice and oppression, prevails oyer 
all these lands. It is safe to say that in no Heathen 
state, where the people and government are under 
the influence of gross idolatry, can a laboring man 
anywhere get to exceed fifteen (15) cents a day for 
his toil. Between six and eight hundred millions 



="The rates of wages in this dissertation are founded mostly on United 
States Consular Reports. In some instances they have been supplemented 
from the narratives of intelligent travelers, or after correspondence with 
missionaries or other reliable persons residing in the countries mentioned. 
Their substantial accuracy is beyond question, 

28 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

of the human race are in this deplorable condition. 
Their elevation is absolutely hopeless only through 
the gospel and the rule of a just government. The 
experience of all ages, and it is verified by the pres- 
ent economical condition of the people in all lands, 
proves that other foundation can no man lay that 
will support a soul in immortality, or on which to 
establish the prosperity of a nation, save Jesus 
Christ and the word of God. 

IV. Mohammedan Countries. 

Proceeding westward, we come to countries 
where the Koran holds sway. Although the soil 
grows poorer, wages get better, until a fair aver- 
age, and from which there is but little variation 
for Turkey, Persia, and Syria, would be about 
twenty (20) cents a day. The weak points in Mo- 
hammedanism are, that it has no power to renovate 
the heart, and also that it relegates woman to a 
position but little above that of the brutes that perish. 
With almost universal ignorance as the normal con- 
ditions of woman in Mohammedan lands, it is in- 
evitable that society there should be dull, stupid, 
and sluggish. Still it is an improvement on the 
idolatry it supplants, preserving its followers from 
bowing down to gods of wood and stone and the 
reeking impurities, corruptions, and debaucheries 
inseparably connected with such worship. It also 
enjoins abstemiousness, not merely from ardent 
spirits, but even from wine, so that drunkenness is 
almost unknown in those countries. About two hun- 
dred millions of the human race are Mohammedans. 
Such measure of truth as the system possesses has 
an elevating influence, and, in consequence, wages 
and prosperity in Mohammedan countries are nearly 
double what they are in idolatrous lands. 

29 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 



V. Eastern Churches. 

Proceeding still westward, we come to countries 
where a very debased form of Christianity prevails 
in the Greek and Armenian Churches. They are 
both very corrupt in doctrine and still more corrupt 
in discipline, and with many rites, forms, ceremonies, 
and superstitions, for which there is no Scriptural 
warrant. Wages here vary for the class mentioned 
from twenty-four (24) cents in St. Petersburg to 
twenty-seven {2y) cents at Athens. In no country 
dominated by either of these Churches does it any- 
where exceed thirty (30) cents a day for an un- 
skilled laborer. Doctrinaires of the schools often 
claim that the law of supply and demand regulates 
the rates of wages the same as it does the price of 
any other commodity. Experience proves that the 
law is modified and restricted in its operations under 
the paramount control of religion and government. 
The seven churches of Asia all existed in this ter- 
ritory. Had they observed the message sent them 
by the true and faithful witness Jesus Christ in 
doctrine, discipline, and experience, these countries 
would surely now be more prosperous. 

VI. Christian Nations. 

The Scriptural way, and also the rational order 
for the elevation of man, is that he receive truth in 
religion, and then, in proportion as he holds fast 
to it and applies it in society, commerce, govern- 
ment, and all the relations of life, does the nation 
in which he lives prosper. Even in a country like 
the United States, where Church and State are 
separate, there is, and always will be, a very close 
affinity between the ideas of a people in religion and 
the policies they adopt in government. Church and 

30 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

state, to do their best work in the elevation of 
man, ought both be founded on truth, and the 
gospel offers it in either direction and for any and 
all nations. In proportion as it is received and 
observed in these two great institutions does the 
morals, health, and intelligence of the people im- 
prove and the nation in which they live prosper. 
There is nothing higher than truth ; or more im- 
portant to the welfare of the human race. Of all 
the religions of earth the gospel of Christ is the 
only one that can successfully point to the benefits 
of truth following in its train. In that sense the 
gospel to-day carries just the same credentials that 
Christ did when he passed through Galilee, feeding 
the hungry, healing the sick, and opening the eyes 
of the blind. Wages for the class mentioned are, 
in Italy and Austria, about thirty (30) cents; Spain, 
Portugal, Mexico, and in general over South 
America, thirty-two (32) cents; Malta and Ireland, 
about thirty-six (36) cents; France, Belgium, and 
Germany, about forty (40) cents; Holland, forty- 
five (45) cents; Denmark, fifty-two (52) cents; 
England, sixtv-five (65) cents;* and about one dol- 
lar ($1) a day in the United States.f 

VII. Purchasing Power. 

In considering these rates of wages it is well to 
be on our guard against a mistake, frequently made, 
of supposing that money has a greater purchasing 
power where wages are low than where they are 
high. In general, it may be said that it does not; 

=:'A respectable authority claims that laborers in England receive 
eighteen shillings a week. If true, this would make it seventy-two (72) 
cents a day. After much research 1 am inclined to think it will not average 
over sixteen shillings a week for an unskilled laborer. This would make 
it, as stated, about sixty-five cents a day. 

t Wages in the Philippines under Spanish rule were fifty (50) cents a 
day Mexican. Under American rule they have about doubled, which 
makes them now equal to fifty (50 cents in gold or United States currency. 

31 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

although there are some exceptions. Woolen goods 
and some manufactured articles, like cutlery, glass- 
ware, and queensware, can be purchased at very low 
rates in Europe. So can rice and tea in the East 
Indies, and sugar and some tropical fruits and vege- 
tables in the West Indies. But corn, flour, meat, 
dairy products, hardware, medicines, cotton goods, 
boots and shoes, and in general all the necessaries of 
life, can be purchased for less in the United States, 
where wages are highest, than in any other country. 
Economic conditions all over the world prove that 
a day's labor in gospel lands, and without any in- 
crease of toil, will purchase from four to ten times 
as much of the necessaries of life as it does in 
heathen countries. It may be claimed that people 
are more intelligent in the former than in the latter, 
and therefore more prosperous. This is only another 
way of saying that the gospel not only leads to 
national prosperity, but also gives light and quickens 
the mind of the people who are under its influence. 
Either way, it is clear that the gospel is essential 
to the v/elfare and prosperity of nations. It is this 
power operating on the American people that has 
caused their solitudes to become inhabited, made 
their deserts blossom like the rose, and where, two 
centuries ago, a few savages obtained only a meager 
and scanty support, may now be found the most 
prosperous nation that has ever existed, numbering 
eighty millions, and forming the United States. 

VIII. Density oe Population. 

It is sometimes claimed that density of popula- 
tion is not favorable to high rates of wages, and that 
this is one cause of the poverty of laborers in the 
East. When tested by experience, this theory is not 
sustained by the facts, except in the minor and sub- 

32 



The: Unitf.d States a Chosen NatioxN. 

ordinate sense that all laws are at times modified by 
local conditions. Eddies can be found in streams 
where the course is backward, but that does not alter 
the fact that the general current of rivers is down- 
ward and in the opposite direction. Russia is a very 
thinly-settled country, but wages there are exceed- 
ingly low. They are more than twice as good in 
other countries with no better soil, and that have 
more than double the population to the square mile 
possessed by Russia. It is doubtful if in the wild 
state of nature a square mile of land would support 
more than one person living on the game it would 
furnish. Use it as a pasture for domestic animals, 
and it v/ill support a dozen or perhaps a score. Cul- 
tivate the soil, and, if adapted to farming, it will 
support over a hundred persons. Develop its mineral 
resources or commercial or manufacturing possi- 
bilities, and you will still farther add to its wealth- 
producing power and the number it will support. 
But the morals and intelligence of the people, meas- 
ure of truth in their religion, and reflected in the 
justice and wisdom of their government, are essen- 
tial elements at every step in this advance from bar- 
barism to civilization. 

IX. Son. AND Climate. 

The underlyng principle in Buckle's ''History 
of Civilization" is, that the environments of soil, 
climate, and the natural resources of the land are the 
essential conditions in the elevation of man. This 
work possesses considerable literary merit, and has 
been used as a text-book in some institutions of 
learning ; but the facts from all ages and all nations 
disprove the soundness of Buckle's position. His 
theories will not stand the test of experience. 

" The spicy breezes 
Blow soft o' er Ceylon' s isle. ' ' 

3 33 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

It also has a good soil, and is without any excessive 
population. The number of inhabitants to the square 
mile in Ceylon is less than in many States of the 
Union. But through falsehoods and superstitions 
in religion, and what always attends it, evil and 
foolish customs in society and wrongs, injustice, and 
oppressions in government, it there takes ten days' 
toil to obtain what can be had with one day's labor 
in the United States. The cardinal mistake of 
Buckle consists in ignoring the voracious and de- 
structive power of sin that has passed on all races 
through the fall in Adam. Sin has planted the earth 
with weeds and briers, and even now causes vices to 
grow and flourish in the hearts of men that are still 
more wasteful of wealth. The facts of experience 
prove that the grace of the Lord Jesus, that delivers 
from sin and builds up the moral and intellectual 
character of the people, is a more important element 
in the production of wealth than soil, or climate, or 
the natural resources of the land. Christ is not only 
the great Teacher, the great Physician for health, 
and the great Prophet revealing what will surely 
come to pass both in time and eternity, but also the 
world's great Political Economist, pointing out for 
all people on the face of the whole earth the sure 
and certain wa^ to national welfare and prosperity. 

X. Cause oe Prosperity. 

Theories must correspond with facts and stand 
the test of experience, or they should be rejected. 
If we accept the theory that race is the cause of 
national welfare, it is overthrown by the facts. 
Races that at one time thrive will at another period 
be found to decline. If we accept the theory of 
Buckle, that soil and climate are the main causes 
of national welfare, where, then, is the soil richer 
and the skies more balmy than in Egypt, and where 

34 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

are the people more impoverished ? If we accept the 
theory of secularism, that education, regardless of 
truth in religion and the worship of God, is able to 
elevate a nation, it can be said that Greece had 
schools and the academy ; but now 

<"Tis Greece but'living Greece no more." 

The gospel theory has in every instance, so far in 
the history of the world, been sustained by the facts. 
The more' closely a people observe the word of God 
and receive truth in religion and apply it in their 
policies of government, the more do their morals, 
health, and intelligence improve, and the nation in 
which they live prosper. This is the lesson taught 
on every leaf of human history from Eden down 
to the present time, and confirmed by the economic 
conditions now existing among the people of all 
nations. 

XI. Principle Universal. 

There is nothing original in what is here stated. 
All the writer can claim at the most is that, like a 
scribe instructed unto the coming of the kingdom 
of heaven among men, he has brought from his 
treasures of knowledge things that may be_ new in 
the form presented, but the principle on which they 
rest is as old as Creation. IMoses taught the Israel- 
ites they would prosper in Canaan, only as long as 
they were faithful to the worship of God and walked 
in the light of truth. Whenever they turned aside 
to idolatry, and received false principles in religion, 
it would lead to the adoption of false policies in gov- 
ernment, and, although living in the same land, they 
would surely be visited with scarcity and famine.^ 

=:= At the foot of Sinai Moses fin the 26th chapter of Leviticus) taught 
the principles of national welfare to the Israelites. They did not prove to 
be apt scholars, but, like so many others since then who have elected the 
wrong men to office, were led into a grave political error at Kadesh, and in 

35 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

The rates of wages current in the different countries 
of the world establishes the fact that this principle 
taught by Moses is universal, and applies to all ages 
and to all nations. It also proves that the advance 
of the human race to things that are true, pure, 
noble, lovely, of good report, higher wages and 
better economic conditions, and for the people of all 
nations, will be made along the line of preaching, 
praying, and voting the gospel. Although clear, 
plain, and simple, it has often been misunderstood, 
and by judges in the courts, legislators in making 
laws, teachers in the universities, and even by priests 
in temples and cathedrals. It will be a glad day for 
the world wdien this sure way to national prosperity 
is better understood and taught in the schools, 
preached in the churches, and observed by editors 
social reformers, and political economists. 

XII. Mormonism. 

A prominent statesman once told the author he 
could not accept the doctrine that, in proportion to 
the measure of truth in the religion of the people 
and reflected in the justice of their government, was 
the ratio of their general prosperity. The Mormons 
are prosperous, and if he accepted that doctrine, he 
claimed, it would lead to the conclusion that they 
must be in possession of the truth. This opinion 
also exists in the minds of others, and perhaps it is 
not amiss that it should here be answered. Of 



consequence that generation perished in the wilderness. Near forty years 
afterward, on the plains of Moab, near Jericho, Moses again taught the 
same doctrine to the next generation in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. 
There is, in many respects, a striking similarity in these two chapters, both 
in subject matter and the way it is presented. They contain the principles 
of national welfare, not only for the Israelites, but all nations. I'hese two 
chapters (the 26th of Leviticus and the 28th of Deuteronomy) are well 
worth the attention and profound study not only of ministers, but also of 
statesmen, patriotic citizens, and all who desire the elevation of the human 
race. 

36 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

course, it is not in the power of any small body of 
people when surrounded on all sides with the greater 
influences of the nation to determine the general 
rates of wages. That pauperism and some forms of 
vice do not exist in Salt Lake City does not, beyond 
question, prove that Mornipnism possesses the truth. 
Slavery had no tramps, but it still did not follow 
that it offered the best conditions for the welfare 
of society. A system, to be fairly judged, should 
be considered as a whole, and not in some frag- 
mentary relation. This is the true test, and the one 
Mormonism and every false system writhes under. 
The returns from the eleventh and twelfth census 
show that wages are lower for the last twenty years 
in Utah than in any other State of the Pacific Slope.'^ 
This proves that, in so far as the doctrines of a small 
sect like Mormonism have any economic effect on 
the people, they are not equal to the true gospel of 
Christ in promoting the general welfare. 

XIII. Political Economy. 

Adam Smith found that labor was the source of 
wealth. That was his great discovery in political 
science. A careful study of the Book of Genesis 
might have revealed the principle much sooner. He 
also noted the fact of the difference in wages in dif- 
ferent localities. It was so much that it caused him 
to remark that the same difference with any other 
commodity would cause it to be transported to the 
higher market, even round the globe, but did not 
seem to have that effect on labor. In all his studies 
in political economv, and it occupied a large part of 
his life, it seems never to have occurred to him to 

=:= Census Bulletin No 203 gives the average yearly ^^•lge\'" ')l^^l"|^ 
bering industry of the Pacific States as fol ows : Anzona^^ $699 , Cahfornia, 
$492; Idaho, $444; Colorado, $452 I Washington, $542- Oregon, $496, Ne- 
vada, $344 ; Utah, $310. 

37 



Thi^ United States a Chosen Nation. 

inquire into the cause of the difference in wages of 
different countries. This science, with very shght 
improvement, is in practically the condition it was 
left by Adam Smith. Verily there is still in the 
earth what is claimed to be science that is false to 
truth and false to the facts of experience. Is it any 
wonder that political economy in its present form 
should be distrusted, and that the teachings of the 
universities on this subject have but little weight 
with a Board of Trade or in a legislative body? 
Some day the doctrine of the fall in Adam, and of 
redemption through the second Adam, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, will be used, not only to regenerate 
individuals, but also to give a new birth to the sci- 
ence of medicine, education, political economy, and 
all the humanities. Eventually the church, too, will 
preach the national benefits of the gospel. With 
science and religion founded on truth, and both con- 
verging in the same direction, the golden rule will 
finally get into the store, bank, factory, railroad, 
courthouse, legislature, and all institutions, pro- 
ducing just and prosperous commonwealths and 
ushering in the kingdom of God among men. 

XIV. GosPEE ^oR Nations. 

The Lord Jesus on the Mount of Ascension com- 
missioned the apostles, and through them the gospel 
ministry down to the end of time, not only to preach 
faith and repentance, but also to ''teach all nations." 
This command authorizes and requires the church 
to teach the morals and public righteousness that 
exalts nations to welfare and prosperity. Beyond 
question, much of the Scriptures refer to govern- 
ment. It is expressly stated that they are all profit- 
able for reproof, for instruction, for correction in 

38 



The; Uniti-d State:s a Chosi-n Nation. 

rig-hteousness ; that the man of God may be thor- 
oughly furnished unto all good works. To vote 
wrong is but little credit in any person claiming to 
serve God. The God of truth who seeks the ele- 
vation of the human race is not served in such vot- 
ing, but rather the devil, who desires the ruin and 
destruction of man. The best way for the latter to 
accomplish this purpose is to get lies in the religion 
of the people, and, what always follows, injustice 
and opi)ressions in their government. The essence 
of idolatr}^ consists in the worship of what is false. 
It was because they understood the evil effects of 
such worship on the nation that the prophets con- 
demned it among the Israelites. In view of the 
many benfits that attend good government and that 
its essential principles are taught in the Scriptures, 
it is surely part of th<-- work of the church to give 
them voice and utterance when the occasion requires. 
That the apostolic churches did not, admits of a 
very simple explanation. Those who composed them 
were not enfranchised, and did not possess any 
power or authority in government. With us it is 
different. As we have opportunity, let us do good 
unto all men, is an apostoKc maxim that, without 
any strained construction, urges Christian voters, 
when they have the ballot, to use it in supporting 
gospel principles in government. At present this 
vote is not perceptible in election returns, and never 
will be until the doctrine gets into the pulpit that the 
gospel is here for the elevation of the human race, 
and that good government is part of the coming of 
the kingdom of heaven among men."^ 



=•' I Cor. xiv, 8: "If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall 
prepare himself to the battle?" Still less when, like at present, it practi- 
cally gives no warning, and utters no voice, or hut very little, in favor of 
public righteousness in the government of city, county. State, and nation. 



39 



The; United States a Chosen Nation. 



XV. ''Heaeing oe the Nations.-" 

A commonwealth where most of the people wor- 
ship God and render justice to man would be the 
ideal State. Moses founded such among the Israel- 
ites. A greater than Moses would extend it, and 
open the kingdom of God and establish the rule of 
right among the people of all nations. At present 
the churches in general confine themselves to preach- 
ing what each denomination considers necessary for 
the soul in immortality. But the Scriptures reveal 
not only the way of life for the individual, but also 
the path of prosperity for nations. The welfare of 
society and full-orbed salvation of Christ requires 
that both ideas should be asserted. Nations now go 
blundering along the path of progress, and their 
course in ascending to civilization is often more 
crooked than the wanderings of the Israelites. To 
say that, if done, it must be with discretion, is to 
state a rule that applies to all effective preaching. 
Some claim that to do this would be to invade the 
domain of politics, from which the church is ex- 
cluded. There is much in government that has a 
moral and ethical side. To abandon them is to be- 
come unfaithful to both God and man, and concede 
that the party editor, orator, and candidate will be 
more faithful to truth than those who claim to be 
heaven-ordained for the service. Were the churches 
to declare the whole counsel of God, and proclaim 
not only the way of life for the soul, but also the 
governmental ideas of the gospel, nations might in 
a straight line move forward to welfare, prosperity, 
and civilization. Eventually the pulpit will do this 
work, and not only guide souls to immortality, but 
also teach from the Scriptures the principles that 
w^ill cause nations to become free and prosperous 
commonwealths. In the nature of things, such a 
40 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

ministry must precede the full triumphs of the gos- 
pel. John saw their appearing at the close of his 
vision in Patmos. They came from heaven, the 
proper place for the commission of a minister to 
issue, and understood there was a national and gov- 
ernmental side to the gospel. They were strong and 
fearless, and laid hold of that old serpent, the devil, 
and bound him, and shut him up, and set a seal upon 
him, and prevented him from any more deceiving 

THE NATIONS. 

XVI. Kingdom Coming. 

New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good un- 
couth ; 

They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of 
Truth ; 

Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires ! We ourselves must pilgrims 
be, 

Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate 
winter sea, 

Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key. 

— Lowell. 

Reform is written on every page of the New 
Testament. The present advance of the human race 
has been attained through reform. The coming of 
the kingdom of heaven among men and farther ad- 
vance of the human race must, in the nature of 
things, carry with it other reforms. Popular re- 
ligions, Pagan, Jewish, or, alas! even Christian, 
have not in the past been favorable to reform. 
Whenever any system of worship obtained control, 
it then became opposed to change, although truth 
is ever new and always advancing to fresh conquests 
of error. Teachers of religion ought to recognize 
this, become open to light, and, instead of proving a 
hindrance, lead the advance upward of the human 
race. One of the saddest things of earth is that 
so much of the progress of the world has had to be 
accomplished over all the obstacles the settled clergy 
41 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

could muster. The antagonism of the temple and 
priesthood in Jerusalem to the Lord Jesus, even after 
he had fed the hungry, healed the sick, and opened 
the eyes of the blind, has often since then been re- 
peated over reforms the most just and salutary, and 
presented by reformers charming never so wisely. 
For a recent example we need go no farther back 
than the antislavery contest. That movement found 
nearly all the churches in the United States, not 
only opposed to abolition, but even against any- 
thing being said on the subject.* Might not the 
churches in the twentieth century, and particularly 
in this chosen nation dedicated to the leadership of 
the world, come to a better understanding of the 
gospel of Christ, and become less narrow, less un- 
progressive, more for the truth as it is in Jesus, and 
for the future favor reforms that promote the wel- 
fare of the human race, and to that extent hasten 
the coming of the kingdom of heaven among men ? 

XVII. Government oe Cities. 

The United States is nearer the ideal of the 
kingdom of God among men than any other nation 
that has ever existed — Israel not excepted. Liberty, 
free institutions, and the progress of the human race 
are inseparably connected with truth, justice, and 
righteousness. Corrupt government is destructive 
to the welfare of the people, and always a hindrance 
to progress. The people of St. Louis, in Missouri, 



* Wendell Phillips made the following racy criticism on the attitude of 
the Boston Churches and ministers to the antislavery contest: " Where is 
Hubbard Winslovv ? Teaching that a minister's rule of duty is what the 
brotherhood will allow and protect. Where is the pulpit of Old South? 
Sustaining slavery as a Bible institution. Where is Essex Street Church? 
Teaching that there are occasions when the Golden Rule should be sus- 
pended. Where is Federal Street Church ? Teaching that silence is the 
duty of the North with respect to slavery, and closing its doors for a funeral 
eulogy on the Abolitionist Follen, who was hung for his sentiments by a 
mob in North Carolina." 

42 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

have of late been scandalized through discovering 
the bribery that prevailed in their city government. 
Many other cities, if the facts were known, are in 
much the same condition, and the churches in them 
are but little concerned over political corruption and 
the injurious effect it has on the welfare of the peo- 
ple. It is probable that (if not sooner) the munic- 
ipal vote in 1920 will decide the destinies of the 
nation. This makes just and upright city govern- 
ment a matter of national importance. In view of 
the corruption and the extent to which it prevailed, 
it has been suggested to have St. Louis ruled by a 
commission appointed by the Governor of the State, 
and through this, or some other change in the form 
of government, effect a reformation. If this is the 
dependence for a reformation, is it surely doomed 
to failure and defeat. All such plans and methods 
of government must in the end come back to some 
man or body of men to be administered, and if they 
are corrupt, the system will necessarily descend to 
their level. A much better way to clean honest 
municipal government, and also to promote the wel- 
fare of the people and prosperity of the whole nation, 
would be for the pulpit at suitable times to preach 
the gospel doctrine that the people ought to choose 
for rulers and officeholders able men, such as fear 
God, loving truth and hating covetousness, until it 
is voted from the pews. There is nothing taught in 
the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelations, that the 
church may not bind for wristlets on its hands, and 
for frontlets between its eyes, and glory in every 
word that cometh from the mouth of the Lord. 

XVIII. Spiritual or Machine Religion. 

Progress is the law of life in men or nations. 
The battle over it between priest and prophet did 
not end with the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem. It 
43 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

still exists, and may continue to the end of time. 
The union between religion and government is so 
close that both priest and prophet produce their 
counterparts in conservative and reformer in the 
domain of politics. Both could be useful holding 
fast to what was good from the past, while ready 
to advance when something better appears. In gen- 
eral, priest and conservative find their ideals in the 
past, while prophet and reformer have a vision of 
something better attainable. Priest and conservative 
are averse to change, and never lead in a revolution, 
while prophet and reformer are at their best in a 
crisis. Priests are smooth, orderly men, with a good 
opinion of rites, forms, and ceremonies, while proph- 
ets esteem more highly the living truth ordinances 
ought to represent. Priests wear fine clothes, appear 
well at a social function, and cotton to what is old, 
wealthy, and established. Prophets have appeared 
clothed in camel's-hair or other coarse garment, and 
at a transition period are apt to find their supporters 
like Moses did in the brickyards of Egypt; or like 
Christ did among the fishermen of Galilee ; or in 
modern times among miners, farmers, railroaders, 
or the mill-hands in a factory town. The supreme 
thing with both priest and conservative is not truth, 
but the machine of the sect or party. The Scrip- 
tures, and also the good of the people, would favor 
reversing this order. Machine religion invariably 
produces a machine system of politics. It does it, 
not only in the despotism of Heathendom, but even 
under the democratic form of government. Where, 
under representative government, there is a machine 
religion, you will there find the rule of the "boss" 
and party machine in control. How important it is, 
then, to the welfare of the people, and the liberty 
and prosperity of nations, that religion should be as 
Christ taught — spiritual and founded in truth. 
44 



The United States a Chosen Nation. 

Priestcraft leads to formality, stagnation of thought, 
and the destruction of nations. Against the warn- 
ings of prophets, from Moses to Christ, priestcraft 
and machine religion destroyed Israel, and will do 
the same to-day in any nation where it obtains con- 
trol. Every one, but particularly leaders in church 
and state, ought to make truth supreme in order to 
promote the welfare of the people, the liberty and 
prosperity of the nation, and prepare the way for 
the coming of the kingdom of heaven among men — 

"That one far-off, divine event, 
To which the whole creation moves." 

XIX. Failure o^ Israel. 

"Beautiful for situation is Mount Zion, the joy 
of the whole earth," wrote the psalmist. Canaan 
had not only a good soil and favorable climate, but 
also, in former times, was the most suitable place in 
all the earth from which to influence other nations 
with the gospel. During the fifteen hundred years 
it was occupied by the Israelites all the great nations 
of antiquity existed on the borders of Canaan. The 
star of empire first rested in Egypt ; next in Babylon ; 
afterward in Greece; and subsequently in Rome. 
Had the Israelities proved faithful, their great pros- 
perity and rapid advance in civilization would have 
advertised the national benefits of the gospel, through 
^g'yptj over all Africa; through Babylon, over all 
Asia; and through Greece and Rome, over all Eu- 
rope. With the light and intellectual development 
that always attends the worship of the true God, 
they might have anticipated many of our inventions, 
and given to the world the telegraph, locomotive, 
printing-press, anaesthetics to deaden pain, and pio- 
neered the march of progress and civilization for the 
whole human race. Whenever a people welcomed 

45 



The: United States a Chosen Nation. 

the gospel, like the Ninevites did under the preach- 
ing of Jonah, they could have supplied them with 
pastors, teachers, educators, and evangelists, and 
all nations from barbarism and degradation might 
have been elevated up to the knowledge of the true 
God, and what follows in their advance to liberty, 
prosperity, and civilization. They did give the 
Messiah to the world, but this larger destiny that 
Moses and the prophets perceived and declared to 
be possible of a nation that would give teachers, 
preachers, and leaders of progress and civilization to 
the whole human race, was not fulfilled by the 
Israelites.* 

XX. American Opportunity. 

The twentieth century finds the United States 
occupying a similar position in reference to the 
progress of the human race and leadership of the 
world that Israel did to the nations of antiquity. It 
is, in territory, location, and character of the people, 
singularly well fitted for the service. It is without 
slavery and free from the incumbrance of a throne 
or hereditary aristocracy that prevents England from 
leading the nation upward to the republican or rep- 
resentative form of government. It exists at an era 
when steam, electricity, and the printing-press have 
become the servants of man, and all nations are 
opening their doors for trade, commerce, and the 
comparison of ideas. Best of all, God is at work in 
and through the United States as he never in the 
past has wrought through any other nation to spread 
the gospel to all lands and elevate the whole human 
race, if the American churches and people become 

* " Now therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my cove- 
nant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people ; for all 
the earth is m'ne and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and holy 
nation." (Exodus xix, 5, 6.) 

46 



The United States a Chosen Nation 

willing in this day of grace, power, and opportunity. 
China now beholds us with wonder ; Japan and the 
islands of the sea are favorably impressed ; India, 
Persia, and Arabia have heard of us with delight ; 
Ethiopia is stretching out her hands to us for de- 
liverance ; Mexico and South America exult in our 
strength, and look to us for protection ; while all 
Europe is united to us by blood, and the great body 
of her people rejoice in our marvelous prosperity. 
Surely there never in all the earth was another nation 
so favorably situated for evangelizing the world, 
and so well equipped for the service, as the United 
States. It only remains for the American people 
to open their eyes, read the signs of the times, recog- 
nize the purposes of God in their destiny and oppor- 
tunities, and, proving faithful to the everlasting gos- 
pel of Christ, do more for themselves and the whole 
human race than any and, perhaps, all other nations 
have ever accomplished. 

"We are living, we are dwelling 
In a grand and awful time, 
In an age on ages telling, 
To be living is sublime. 

Hark ! the waking up of nations, 

Gog and Magog to the fray ! 
Hark ! what soundeth is creation 

Groaning for its latter day ! 

Worlds are charging, heaven beholding, 

Thou hast but an hour to fight, 
Now the blazoned cross unfolding, 

On, right onward for the right ! 

O, let all the soul within you 
For the truth' s sake go abroad ! 

Strike ! let every nerve and sinew 
Tell on ages — tell for God!" 

—A. C. CoxE. 



47 



OG 29,1903 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

It is to be regretted, and in a double sense undesirable, 
when the common people who heard Jesus gladly are not in 
the churches. It injures the churches, and has a tendency to 
make them like the synagogues in Israel — narrow, exclusive 
and somewhat on the order of a ''swell club. ' ' It also works 
a still greater injury to laboring people, and leaves them the 
prey of demagogues who lead them into the wilderness of 
error while unable to separate the waters of Jordan or find a 
crossing into the Canaan of better conditions. It ought to be 
better understood that labor problems will only be solved 
when toilers take the easy yoke and light burden of the gospel. 
Without me ye can do nothing of value and benefit to the 
public welfare is as true to-day of men, parties, associations, 
and labor unions as it was of the apostles. It is only when 
the nations of earth yield to the teachings of Christ and in 
proportion as they do will wages increase and wonder of 
wonders, the standing miracle of the centuries, does the hours 
of labor decrease. The circulation of this pamphlet may help 
to spread this knowledge. Fifteen copies of it will be mailed 
to any address for one dollar. Send orders to 

T. M. C. BIRMINGHAM, 

Wellston, Oklahoma. 
Lincoln Co. 



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